


Stumbling Hearts

by CharmingEyes



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Drabbles, F/M, Fluff, Gaius being a huge flirt, More tags to be added, Mostly Fluff, Multiple pairings (subtle), Sumia being a cute awkward turtle, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 02:23:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5691007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmingEyes/pseuds/CharmingEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots focusing on Gaius and Sumia! The first time they met, they were enemies; he was just trying to put bread on the table, she was fighting to protect the Exalt. Gaius never expected to meet the Shepherds, let alone the love of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stumbling Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this fic to Fanfiction.net and recently decided to revise and post it on AO3. For anyone that has read this story over on FF.net, you'll notice that I made minor changes to make the story flow a bit better. Hope the fandom isn't dead x.x Enjoy!

Gaius creeped up the winding staircase, watching his footwork and making sure not to make a sound. In the off chance that things went south, he had memorized the layout of the castle by heart, not wanting to risk being caught off guard with no escape plan. Once he reached the top of the stairs, he blended into the shadows, moving along the walls and making his way towards the Exalt’s chamber. The Plegians had enlisted his “services” infiltrate the Ylissean palace in order to steal some kind of treasure that was rightfully theirs. All he needed to do was get to the Exalt’s chamber while the Plegians distracted the guards. He didn’t bother with the specifics, it wasn’t any of his business after all. Besides, times were tough and a job with pay as sweet as this was hard to come by.

Rounding the last corner, he noticed the pair of assassins that had apparently followed him through the castle. Wondering how they managed to follow him this far without him even noticing, he suddenly realized the gravity of the situation he had gotten himself in. He had been tricked into being a pawn in some demented plot to assassinate the Exalt. He knew the job was too good to be true. Sighing, he continued down the corridor and purposely turned into the wrong wing of the castle. He was a thief, not a murderer and he’d be damned if the Exalt was killed because of him. He only counted two sets of barely noticeable footsteps behind him but there was no way to know if there were more. He might be able to take out one or two of them if it came down to that, but he hoped to avoid a fight. He was never much of a fighter to begin with; thievery and spying were his forte and it wouldn’t be ideal to have scars on his handsome face. It just wasn’t good for business. 

As he neared the end of the corridor, he heard the faint sounds of metal clashing against metal; the telltale sounds of battle. He peeked around the corner and seeing that the coast was clear, he quickly moved into a linen closet hoping to give the assassins the slip. He listened for their footsteps to pass him before he stepped out of the closet. Dusting himself off, he made the decision to head towards the servants’ quarters. _I’ve already come this far, might as well try to find something of value. The kitchen’s bound to have something sweet to eat…_ his train of thought trailed off. Distracted by the thoughts of cakes, pies and other sweet, sweet pastries, Gaius didn’t see it coming. **BAM!** “Ngh..!” he grunted and clutched at his head, his vision beginning to blur as he felt the familiar trickle of blood leaking out of his nose.

-

Sumia had been in the library when the attackers invaded the castle. She knew her duty as a Pegasus Knight was to protect the Exalt at all costs, but without her Pegasus or a weapon she knew would be useless to her. She ran down the hall at top speed in hopes of finding a something she could use as a weapon to defend herself if the attackers came upon her. The sounds of battle were growing louder and louder and she tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to draw attention to herself while she was defenseless. Her boots were making that task difficult, clunking hard on the floor with each step no matter how hard she tried to soften her footsteps. Panicking, she reached down and attempted to pull them off, causing a momentary loss of balance before she fell flat on her face.

“Owie…” she mumbled before she clamped her hands over mouth hoping to Naga no one had heard her fall but also realizing that the chances were low with all the noise her armour had made. Peeling herself off the floor, she carefully undid the straps on her boots and slid them off, briefly debating on leaving the blasted things behind before shaking her head and grabbing them. _If I don’t manage to find some kind of weapon I can at least try to chuck these bricks at them!_

Once again running through the halls, Sumia was just thinking that it was a miracle she hadn’t tripped over anything yet and was about to come to the conclusion that it had been those damned boots all along when she somehow managed to trip over her own feet. _I can’t believe I just jinxed myself! Stupid!_ she thought as she braced herself for the impact she knew was about to come. She felt her head collide with something hard, but it didn’t feel like the familiar surface of the floor that she had become so acquainted with. “Ngh..!” upon hearing the pained grunt, she whipped her head up and saw an unfamiliar young man with fiery orange hair clutching at his head before he tumbled to the ground unconscious.

Rubbing her forehead, her eyes widened when she realized what had happened. _I headbutted him?!_ she gasped. Sumia quickly scanned her surroundings and saw a supply closet right across the hall. Crawling towards it, she pulled out a spear and made her way back to the unconscious man. She watched his face for signs that he would be waking up anytime soon and blushed a deep shade of crimson when she realized how attractive the stranger was. _His eyelashes are so long, his skin is so smooth,_ she thought. Entranced, she inched closer and noticed something strange. _His nose is… bleeding?_ She absentmindedly reached a hand down and was about to brush the hair off of his forehead when his eyes started to flutter. She jumped back as he groaned and sat up, readying her weapon. _What was that?! What was I thinking, we’re in the middle of a battle! This man is probably with the enemy!_

-

As Gaius came to, he sat up and rubbed his forehead. Squinting, he scanned the environment before his eyes focused on a girl, probably not much younger than himself. In his daze, his eyes focused solely on her face, not realizing his stare was causing her some discomfort. _What a pretty face…_ he thought absentmindedly. He was about to move to get up when he noticed the flush extending from her face down to… other _intriguing_ places. The next thing he noticed was that she was holding a spear to his chest with trembling fingers. _Now this just won’t do._ He wiped at the warmth he felt above his lip and cursed as he discovered the blood trickling out of his nose. Pinching his nose, he glanced up at the girl again. She appeared to be in a severely disheveled state, not to mention the fact that she was missing her shoes and shaking like a leaf. With a deep sigh he decided that now was as good a time as any to try and make some new friends. _It’s either that or be skewered like a marshmallow by this lovely lady,_ he thought as he eyed her up and down slowly causing her blush to deepen. _Maybe she’ll put in a good word for me with the head honcho around here for me if I get her to safety,_ his eyes widened at the thought as he was reminded of the situation he was in. If the assassins had heard them crash into each other, and there was a good chance that they did, they might have come to investigate.

Playing it cool, his eyes shifted around the hallway and scanned the shadows as he addressed the young woman. “Hey there. I know what this looks like, but I’m not here to hurt anyone alright?” he drawled, holding his free hand up in surrender. “I was only here to open some doors and steal something, I had no idea that was going to be an assassination.”

He saw the look of uncertainty that crossed her face before they both heard light footsteps nearby. She tore her eyes away from him for just a moment to look down the hall and he took the opportunity to push the spear away from his chest and grab her. Covering her mouth, he pulled her down the hall and pinned her to a door as he picked the lock. He dragged her in and moved towards a closet in the corner of the room, shoving her inside. 

“Stay in there and don’t come out until I say it’s safe.” He shut the closet door before she could even nod her head. 

Moving quietly, he put his ear to the door and listened closely for the footsteps again. He soon heard them closing in on their position. Gaius backed away from the door quickly and hid in the shadows, hoping that even if they were discovered, he would at least have the advantage of surprise. In a matter of seconds, the door was kicked open and two figures slunk in. Gaius immediately recognize the two assassins that had been trailing him through the castle. _This is bad,_ he thought as he mulled over his options. _Option one, I could join back up with them and just continue with the mission. They might believe I just got lost. At least that way, we’ll both make it out of this alive,_ he thought as he glanced back to the closet. _Option two, I could--,_ his train of thought was interrupted as the girl tumbled out of the closet. _What the hell?!_

-

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” said one of the assassins as they closed in on Sumia, who had face planted into the ground yet again with her backside in the air. “Hmm, now that is a pleasant sight to see. What do you say we bring this one back for a little… fun,” the bigger of the two smirked as they circled her.

Sumia picked herself up and backed into the corner of the room, her spear at the ready. “Stay away from me you brigands!” she shouted in a voice that sounded way more confident than she felt at the moment. 

Even with the sharp spear in her hands, the assassins continued to advance on her with devious grins on their faces. One got to close to her and she lunged at him with the weapon. The man nimbly dodged the attack, grabbed the spear, and tossed it aside. “What are you going to do now girlie? Cry? Scream? Go ahead, no one is going to hear you,” they laughed sinisterly as she backed away, flattening herself against the wall.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the inevitable when she heard a sharp intake of breath and a thud to her right. Opening her eyes, she glanced into the unseeing eyes of one of the assassins and looked up. The mysterious man who had dragged her into this room was standing protectively over her as he stared down the remaining man.

-

The assassin laughed cruelly as he observed the scene before him. “You think you can beat me, thief,” he spit the word. “You may have been able to off that idiot,” he said jutting his chin out towards the dead man.” But there is no way in hell you’ll be able to kill me that easily.” With that, the assassin lunged at Gaius who met him head on with his own sword, effectively blocking him.

They fought for what felt like hours and Gaius knew he was going to end up on the losing side by the amount of injuries he had already sustained, although he noted that none of them were quite lethal enough to kill him. _The bastard’s toying with me,_ he thought as he gritted his teeth and parried a blow aimed at his ribs. Just as he was about to be overpowered, a spear whizzed past Gaius’s head and imbedded itself into the assassin’s shoulder. He felt a gust of wind blow past him as the girl he was protecting ran up and yanked the spear out and pointed it at the man’s throat. Gaius took advantage of his shock and knocked the assassin unconscious with the butt of his blade.

With a sigh of relief, Gaius quickly took inventory of himself (and his candy). He had been on the receiving end of quite a few slashes, but was pleased to discover only a small handful of them would need a cleric. He did however discover a gash on his eyebrow and grumbled in dismay. _This better not scar._

Quickly downing a vulnary for the minor wounds, he popped a colourful piece of candy into his mouth and observed his beautiful savior.

“Crivens girl, if I knew you could fight like that then maybe I wouldn’t have shoved you into that closet—sorry about that by the way. Anyways, thanks… uh…”

“Sumia,” she replied with a shy smile. “Thank you for not leaving me behind and saving me from them,” she motioned to the two men sprawled out on the floor.

“No problem, babe. I told ya I wasn’t here to hurt anyone,” he smirked and put his hands behind his head. “Except maybe them. Now that I saved you and all, do ya think you could get me in with your boss? I think my days of freelancing are over. You never know what you’re really signing up for and I’ve had one too many bad experiences with bastards like these,” he emphasized by kicking the unconscious man in the leg.

“O-of course! We just have to get to—Oh no! we have to protect the Exalt!” Sumia was about to dash out of the room when Gaius caught her by the arm.

“Hey, hey, hang on there. I was supposed to be the one to open the door to the Exalt’s chambers. They ain’t getting in there without me, so you can stop worrying your pretty little head off,” he smirked as she averted her eyes at his words. “If it makes you feel better, we’ll make our way over there as soon as I tie this one up, alright?”

“O-okay,” she stuttered as she felt his grip on her arm loosen. “Hang on, I still don’t know your name!”

“Who, me?” he drawled. “I’m Gaius, but for you sweetheart? You can call me stud,” he winked at her.

She felt the heat creep up her cheeks and before she knew it, she was blushing three different shades of red. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he saw steam coming out of her ears at that point. “I-I-I… I think I’ll stick with calling you G-Gaius for now… Did I pronounce that right?”

“Sure did, sugar. Sounds like music to my ears,” he smirked as he watched her turn an even deeper shade of red and avert her gaze once again. As he bent down to tie up the assassin, he remembered something. “Oh, by the way. What happened when I passed out earlier? It all happened so fast and I woke up with a throbbing headache. It’s actually still slightly there,” he said as he rubbed his forehead. “What exactly did you do to me?”

“W-well, um, you see, about that… haha… you probably won’t believe it but… I TRIPPED AND FELL INTO YOU!” she burst out. “Well not really fell, more like headbutted, but I’M SO SORRY! It’s just that I’m clumsy and I fall A LOT, and I guess I must’ve developed an iron-clad skull or something since I’m so used to falling on my face. My stupid head must have been like a cannonball to your face! Oh Naga, I hope you don’t have a concussion!” she grabbed his head and checked for any wounds that she might have caused with her Iron Skull. Gaius was in shock at her outburst and didn’t even put up a struggle as she whipped his head from side to side. “Oh Gaius, your eyebrow…” she brushed her fingers over the still fresh wound. She had noticed before when she had been studying him up close that his face had been void of any imperfections, including scars. 

“It’s nothing,” he shrugged her off and continued with his work. “If it does scar, then all I can say is that you were worth it,” he turned to her and offered her a lopsided grin. Sumia felt her cheeks heat up once again. “So you headbutted me, eh? I never thought I would be knocked out that way,” he chuckled. “How did you manage to fall?”

“Um… usually I trip over my own feet or even nothing at all. I guess this time, I stumbled over the only tile in the whole castle that isn’t level with the rest of the floor.”

“Stumbled, eh? I think I like that…” he mumbled to himself. “I hereby dub thee, Stumbles!” he grinned at her just as he finished tying the assassin up. “Now how about we get going?”

“S-S-Stumbles?!”

“Would you rather I call you Stutters? Nah, Stumbles sounds way better. Now let’s go!” he grabbed her hand and began the trek to the Exalt’s chambers. The whole way, Sumia could only blush as she noticed that he had unconsciously twined their fingers together.

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think?


End file.
